Rabbi Pinchas Perlov
The whole of Megillat Esther alludes to concealment.
It contains no explicit names of the Almighty, but an abundance of “messengers,” couriers; everything happens only through them: instead of saying that “the king (or Haman) sent letters to the provinces,” the text repeatedly mentions messengers who carry out their duties unfailingly, and Esther pointedly conducts negotiations with Mordechai through an intermediary who is even named; messengers act in other cases too (unlike in the events of the Exodus: “I,” says the Almighty, “and not an angel; I, and not a seraph,” as the Midrash says about the smiting of the firstborn).
But this veil is torn open—and Divine light pours into the world, and the Creator's plans become clear, sometimes after nine years, sometimes after thousands.
And the holiday of Purim was given to us as an example and as a sign of hope for the future.
And so in Av there is no place for sadness, still less for despair, but only for mourning, for that is something different. Even our mourning at this time is mingled with joy, since we merely diminish our joy; this is the joy of the coming Redemption, in which we believe even on the most mournful days. One cannot serve the Almighty without joy, as it says: “The precepts of the L-rd are upright, rejoicing the heart”—all precepts, even those relating to the laws of mourning.
There is another important point. Nothing shocks a person more than a sudden reversal, whether for good or for ill (G-d forbid!).
The events of Purim take on dramatic intensity with the words: “And the couriers set out, hastened by the king's word, and it was made known in Shushan, the capital, and the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was in turmoil” (Esther, 3:15). Rashi writes that the last phrase refers to the Jews of Shushan, who suddenly found themselves in mortal danger (and some add that the non-Jews were also astonished—by the sudden change in the fate of an entire people who had been prospering until very recently).
And the joy of Purim is not only the joy of the “reversal” that took place in those days: “…The month that turned their sadness into joy and their mourning into a holiday,” but also the joy of anticipating our complete and final liberation, which will come—and also suddenly, as our Sages said: “Either like a scorpion (for those who do not await it), or like a find (for those who do)”.
And this is what every Jew has lived by, every day, for more than three thousand years, proclaiming morning and evening:
SHEMA, YISRAEL—HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE L-RD IS OUR G-D, THE L-RD IS ONE!
Everything comes from Him! When Achashverosh and Haman sit down to drink, and the entire capital, Shushan, is afraid—this comes from Him; but when Haman is dragged to the gallows—that too comes from Him. For the Torah says: “See now that I (Who am here today)—it is I who will put to death—and I who will bring to life; I have wounded—and I will heal, and no one can deliver from My hand” (Deuteronomy, 32:39). And the prophet said: “Who has acted and accomplished? (Who) has called the generations (to life) from (their) beginning? I, the L-rd—the first, and with the last—I am the same” (Isaiah, 41:4).
It is important for our entire people to remember this precisely in our time, when only the blind fail to see what times await us and how our faith will be tested.
Faith that He does not abandon us, that He is with us, the last, weakest generations: “Even to old age, I am I (the same as ever), and even to (your) gray hairs I will bear with you; I have made—and I will carry (you)!” (ibid., 46:4).
And just as He is our One G-d, so we are His only people.
But why were we chosen by Him? “You are My witnesses, declares the L-rd, and (you are) My servant, whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am I (the same); before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will be!” (ibid., 43:10).